Burger Toppings Week: The Smashed Reuben Burger

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During my recent exploits developing ideas for Burger Toppings Week, I've gotten myself into a bit of a mashup routine. First, there was the Cemita Burger, half Mexican cemita sandwich, half massive 8-ounce hamburger patty. Today, I've gone and mashed some stuff up again. This time, it's the lovechild of a Reuben sandwich and a slider.

I came to the idea as I was thinking about how to bring the Reuben's flavors—melted swiss cheese, Russian dressing, rye bread, sauerkraut—to a burger. It occurred to me that the shreds of kraut aren't unlike the thinly sliced onions that are set atop a smashed patty of beef when making a slider. Once that clicked, the rest was pretty obvious.

Here's how to make it.

I started with small 4-ounce balls of beef. Because these patties are smashed thin and cooked until well done, a high fat-percentage beef is essential. Here, I used 80-percent lean freshly ground chuck.

I seasoned the balls generously and set them in a rippin' hot skillet. Then I took a sturdy spatula and smashed them down. Not familiar with this method? Read more of what Kenji's written about smashed burgers here.

I sprinkled each smashed patty with some ground coriander seed, just to give a hint of the corned beef you'd find in a classic Reuben. Then I let them sizzle like that for a couple minutes: That contact time is what gives you that lacy, crispy crust on each patty. Next, I put a small mound of kraut on top of each patty, just like the onions in a classic slider.

I scraped each patty up, using a very sturdy, thin piece of metal—the best way to get all the delicious crust off the skillet. The spatula I'm using in the photo works well, as would a bench scraper or even a wide putty knife (preferably one that hasn't been used to spackle holes in walls).

Then I flipped them over so that the kraut was on the bottom. When it hits the surface, it steams and cooks the underside of the patty from below.

This is when you want to top each patty with a thin slice of Swiss cheese.

The cheese should be just melted when it's time for the patties to come off. Also, you'll notice that this recipe makes 4 burgers, but the skillet in the photo only has 3 in it. That's because you don't want to overcrowd the pan, which could reduce the strong sear you need for each patty. Instead, you may need to cook the 4th in a separate skillet (or do 2 patties in 2 skillets, whatever works for the pans you have). You can also use a larger cast-iron griddle that fits over 2 burners, which will comfortably fit all four.

Meanwhile, I had spread my rye bread with butter and toasted it until slightly crispy. Then, I'd taken half of the pieces of bread and melted additional slices of Swiss cheese on top in the oven. This way, each sandwich gets two slices of cheese (the one that melted on the patty plus the one that melted on the bread), and you're guaranteed that both are fully melted and fused to both the bread and the burger.

I set each of those pieces of cheese-covered bread on top of the patties.

And then I spread homemade Russian dressing on the remaining bottom bread halves.

At this point, it's just a matter of sliding the kraut/patty/top-bread construction out of the skillet and onto the dressed, bottom slice of rye.

Yeah, that's about right.

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Daniel cooked for years in some of New York's top American, Italian and French restaurants - starting at the age of 13, when he began staging at the legendary restaurant Chanterelle. He spent nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padron peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, and made charcuterie in France. When not working on, thinking about, cooking and eating food, he blows off steam (and calories) as an instructor of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art.

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